Diagnosing after death

[TinyReef522]

I bought this yellow coris wrasse about a week ago as a quarantined fish. It immediately buried in the sand and I never actually saw it swim or eat. Last night I discovered it laying on the sand bed breathing heavily, lethargic, not swimming well.

I removed it and did a 8 minute freshwater dip. Did not see any flukes. I put it in a hospital tank with hypo salinity and an air stone. It didn’t look good. I figured it would be dead by morning and it was.

I am trying to determine if I need to pull all my fish (2 clowns, yellow watchman goby, and coral beauty) and treat them.

Here is a picture of it last night:

Here is a picture this morning:

It did not have that darkness behind the gill area until this morning. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[TinyReef522]

@Jay Hemdal

 

[vetteguy53081]

I bought this yellow coris wrasse about a week ago as a quarantined fish. It immediately buried in the sand and I never actually saw it swim or eat. Last night I discovered it laying on the sand bed breathing heavily, lethargic, not swimming well.

I removed it and did a 8 minute freshwater dip. Did not see any flukes. I put it in a hospital tank with hypo salinity and an air stone. It didn’t look good. I figured it would be dead by morning and it was.

I am trying to determine if I need to pull all my fish (2 clowns, yellow watchman goby, and coral beauty) and treat them.

Here is a picture of it last night:

Here is a picture this morning:

It did not have that darkness behind the gill area until this morning. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

There is a dark spot on its belly which may suggest an internal infection or liver issue. The sand shown is very coarse for a wrasse like this as you want fine sand which I see light hemorrhaging near its mouth which could be injury from thicker grade sand
For freshwater dip which offers temporary relief, you want to do a FW dip Up to 5 minutes, not 8 in tap water the same temperature as the display tank

 

[TinyReef522]

There is a dark spot on its belly which may suggest an internal infection or liver issue. The sand shown is very coarse for a wrasse like this as you want fine sand which I see light hemorrhaging near its mouth which could be injury from thicker grade sand
For freshwater dip which offers temporary relief, you want to do a FW dip Up to 5 minutes, not 8 in tap water the same temperature as the display tank

Surprised to hear that about the sand. It’s special grade 1-2mm and I bought it specifically because many people said it was great for wrasses and gobies but doesn’t blow around easily. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[BaliReefBox]

I have the special grade sand and 2 wrasse also, one red and a yellow one. They dive in and out all the time with no issues.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Surprised to hear that about the sand. It’s special grade 1-2mm and I bought it specifically because many people said it was great for wrasses and gobies but doesn’t blow around easily. Thank you for your feedback.

If its special grade 1-2, should be good. Looks coarse in pics but pics can be deceiving.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I bought this yellow coris wrasse about a week ago as a quarantined fish. It immediately buried in the sand and I never actually saw it swim or eat. Last night I discovered it laying on the sand bed breathing heavily, lethargic, not swimming well.

I removed it and did a 8 minute freshwater dip. Did not see any flukes. I put it in a hospital tank with hypo salinity and an air stone. It didn’t look good. I figured it would be dead by morning and it was.

I am trying to determine if I need to pull all my fish (2 clowns, yellow watchman goby, and coral beauty) and treat them.

Here is a picture of it last night:

Here is a picture this morning:

It did not have that darkness behind the gill area until this morning. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Sorry, I'm not sure what happened here, but I do have some observations/questions:

8 minutes is too long for a FW dip on a compromised fish. 5 minutes is all that is needed.

You will only see one species of fluke in the dip water (Neobendenia). The others are all too small to see without a microscope.

I use FW dips to buy some time, and to diagnose flukes soft of secondhand - if the fish improves the day after a dip, then flukes are likely.

The green staining in the belly is bile from the gall bladder. That can be a sign of starvation, or of liver damage.

The redness around the mouth is odd, too far forward to be gill tissue, almost looks like physical damage. It looks like there was damage to its snout in the picture with the container of sand.

Who quarantined the fish? Do you know the method used?

I would not treat your other fish (since we don't know what the problem is, or even if it is contagious). Just watch them very closely for changes in behavior/symptoms.

Jay

 

[TinyReef522]

Sorry, I'm not sure what happened here, but I do have some observations/questions:

8 minutes is too long for a FW dip on a compromised fish. 5 minutes is all that is needed.

You will only see one species of fluke in the dip water (Neobendenia). The others are all too small to see without a microscope.

I use FW dips to buy some time, and to diagnose flukes soft of secondhand - if the fish improves the day after a dip, then flukes are likely.

The green staining in the belly is bile from the gall bladder. That can be a sign of starvation, or of liver damage.

The redness around the mouth is odd, too far forward to be gill tissue, almost looks like physical damage. It looks like there was damage to its snout in the picture with the container of sand.

Who quarantined the fish? Do you know the method used?

I would not treat your other fish (since we don't know what the problem is, or even if it is contagious). Just watch them very closely for changes in behavior/symptoms.

Jay

Local store quarantined. They do CP at 40mg/gal for 14 days and then prazipro and metro every 3-5 days for another 14 days. Then 14 days of observation.

I was concerned about damage to it’s about the couple times I saw it. Kinda wonder if it starved to death due to that injury and stress.

Thank you for feedback.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Local store quarantined. They do CP at 40mg/gal for 14 days and then prazipro and metro every 3-5 days for another 14 days. Then 14 days of observation.

I was concerned about damage to it’s about the couple times I saw it. Kinda wonder if it starved to death due to that injury and stress.

Thank you for feedback.

That quarantine protocol is better than most stores do! Sounds like they really care about their fish and their customers.

Jay